Originally Posted by greyother:Crap. I had no idea the new challenge had started already! Already such great work submitted. I am late to the party apparently. How would it be possible to get auto-notified when new challenges get posted? Sorry if this question has an apparent answer. Maybe update the stickied Discussion: Ideas for Future Challenges thread when there is a new challenge? I am subscribed to that one but somehow completely missed "The Local Train Challenge".

Would it help people if there were a new thread called "Challenge News" or something, that maybe would have limited posting permission so there wasn't a lot of chatter on it, but you could subscribe, subscribe with e-mail notification, etc.?

I think that would help immensely. That way we could be notified somehow when you post a new challenge. The idea thread was great because it was stickied and I was subscribed but as far as I know there were no announcements regarding when the new challenges were being posted. I normally just check my subscriptions and not the actual lighting forum. I don't know if I am the only one who does this.

Originally Posted by jeremybirn:Would it help people if there were a new thread called "Challenge News" or something, that maybe would have limited posting permission so there wasn't a lot of chatter on it, but you could subscribe, subscribe with e-mail notification, etc.?

-jeremy

e-mail notification is so last tuesday, make a Twitter account for new challenges. Or just a jeremybirn twitter account

Can one or more of you explain your workflow for lighting to us (or me)? Since this is really my first "real" lighting challenge, I'm very curious as to how you pumped out complete renders already. I'm not looking for in depth details, just whether or not you guys light before you texture and then adjust the lighting accordingly after the textures are applied and all that jazz.

Nice stuff so far from all u guys. Here is what i have so far. No Texturing at the moment, just classic lighting with NO FG and GI. Rendered in Maya 8.5 with Mental Ray and a little little bit postwork in fusion. Still in progress but i hope u like it...

tuffmutt1 - Your latest are great! In the last poster image, the the line between the horizontal beams with the light bulbs on them and the roof looks a little strange. It's as if the roof is getting bright highlights that aren't shadowed (or aren't shadowed with a softness that matches the bulb size) but somehow that line is looking kindof CG to me. I wonder what that poster would look like with some color (1950's type color if possible...)

iduna79 - Welcome. Do what you want with models. Let's see your work!

Kay Poprawe - Welcome! Keep going with those, they look great! Towards the left side of the first image, one of the gas pumps clearly isn't casting shadows. Look at the bright highlights on the ground, where the columns of the station cast shadows but the pump doesn't, or at the ring of light running all the way around the pump itself, that doesn't seem to get self-shadowing. Great entrance to the challenges!

radianssi - I love it! That's a terrific image! If you're looking to polish it up and perfect it in another pass, I'd take a look at the texture on the texture on the dividers sticking up through the ground on the center of the right side of the image, they look very "CG" to me, while the rest of the image is really ace! The lighting on the crosses looks maybe a little bit too cheated, there's a glow between the horizontal part and the vertical part of the near cross that might look more natural if it were just on top not in between, but this is a minor point. You might also take the image higher resolution, more surfaces like the trees might need a tiny bit of texture work or more subdivision if you did that though. To make something worthy of the gallery in your first post here is really quite an accomplishment!

pbalsic - That's great! You've really crafted a nice composition, nice start on the lighting, too! A few more surfaces might need some textures. That roadway is featured so prominantly that the shoulder and painted stripes and so on become important. A little grass or vegetation might help in places, if that's not too difficult. The lighting on the well looks so bright, compared to the tree or anything else near it, that I think it could be toned down a little bit, or made into a more narrow kick.

Originally Posted by Buhby:Can one or more of you explain your workflow for lighting to us (or me)? Since this is really my first "real" lighting challenge, I'm very curious as to how you pumped out complete renders already. I'm not looking for in depth details, just whether or not you guys light before you texture and then adjust the lighting accordingly after the textures are applied and all that jazz.

In general, the "correct" approach taken on big productions is that shading and texturing is done first, before lighting. A project like this seems to be an exception to that normal rule. Here, leaving a plain white material on all your objects, you can block in a few lights with shadows, and also test the camera positions and move models where needed, all without adding any textures. Objects that are mostly black or rim-lit or hidden in fog might not need any texture work. Of course, surfaces of light bulbs need to be given a bright material, surfaces that should be reflective or shiny need a reflective material, and surfaces getting a lot of light need textures, but you can pick which ones to work on after you've got the basics blocked out.

People who have effects like rain, fog, DOF, etc. are probably spending some time testing those effects as well, and those also can happen before the final texturing is done.

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